Premier’s first post-budget speech held in Edmonton

Premier Rachel Notley took a veiled shot at her PC predecessors in a speech in Edmonton, her first stop in selling her new budget.

Notley repeated many of the points made by Finance Minister Joe Ceci after tabling the budget, when she spoke to the Chamber of Commerce in the capital during Friday’s noon-hour.

When talking about 35-billion dollars in infrastructure projects now underway, she lightly-referenced a scathing report on the failed school construction program of former premiers Alison Redford and Jim Prentice.

“These are real infrastructure projects where real cement has actually been poured and a real school and a real road will be built,” Notley told the crowd. “And they will create thousands of jobs for Albertans today and will leave a lasting legacy for future generations.”

She also took a couple of shots at the opposition parties for where they have stood on the budget.

“Our government won’t respond to the fall in oil prices by making knee-jerk and panicked cuts to the very things that we need to grow our economy, diversify our economy, re-position our economy and to create jobs.”

Notley also repeated a promise to advocate for pipelines “until we get a yes.”